Calories are not the only thing you should be paying attention to. In an interview with the Health Channel, Angie Placeres, Registered Dietitian with Baptist Health South Florida, talks about the importance of eating nutrient dense foods. 

Eating more is not necessarily unhealthy, if you are eating healthy foods you might even need to eat more. For example, 200 calories of chicken nuggets looks much different than 200 calories of lentil soup. It only takes four chicken nuggets to get to 200 calories while it takes 3 cups of lentil soup to meet 300 calories.

Besides the calories, the nutrient difference is also vast. You get fiber, antioxidants, protein, and phytochemicals from lentils, while from chicken nuggets, you just get fat and a little bit of protein. So, lentils are very nutrient dense in comparison. You can include them in your diet year-round and incorporate them in different foods, even salads. “If you’ve never had a cold lentil salad, it’s delicious. Just like quinoa, there’s many ways we can incorporate these foods.”  Angie says. 

Angie also says that deli meats are deceivingly unhealthy, “I think sometimes we’re under this misconception that going to the deli, having a turkey sandwich is a healthy choice, but deli meats are not that healthy.” Deli meats are heavily processed and have a lot of added nitrates and preservatives so that way the meat does not expire. Unfortunately, those additives are often cancer-promoting substances, so you should be careful. “It’s better to get leftover chicken or turkey breast that you’ve made, slice that, and make a sandwich from it,” she advises. If the deli meat is cured or smoked it can be even more dangerous. 

If you are only eating a deli meat sandwich once a week and you are eating a lot of nutrient-dense foods, such as fruits and vegetables, it will balance out. Though it can be really bad for you to eat these lunch meats every day, which a lot of kids will do on a daily basis. 

Watch more videos describing the benefits of eating nutrient rich foods: https://youtu.be/B5pcn-qY-80